The List 6148
Good Saturday Morning July 2.
I hope that you all have a great weekend.
Regards,
skip
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On This Day in Naval and Marine Corps History
July 2
1926 The Distinguished Flying Cross is authorized by Congress. The first Naval Aviator to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross is Richard E. Byrd for his flight to the North Pole on May 9, 1926.
1937 Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan disappear over the Pacific. US Coast Guard cutter Itasca, USS Colorado (BB 45) and USS Lexington (CV 2) and PBY aircraft from Hawaii are dispatched, but the extensive search is unsuccessful.
1944 TBM aircraft from (VC 58) based on board USS Wake Island (CVE 65) sink German submarine U 543, southeast of the Azores.
1944 PB4Ys (FAW 1) sink Japanese sailing vessel Nishima Maru off Mokpo, Korea, and cargo ship No.12 Shima Maru.
1945 USS Barb (SS 220) bombards Japanese installations on Kaihyo Island, Japan in the first successful use of rockets against shore positions.( from skip. Thunder Below written by the Captain Eugene Flucky of the Barb is a great book about the Barb's exploits in WWII. He was one of the most decorated men in the war from the MOH on down with many of each. He also was the only one to put folks ashore on the Japanese home island when his crew blew up a train)
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Today in History July 2
1298 An army under Albert of Austria defeats forces led by Adolf of Nassau.
1625 The Spanish army takes Breda, Spain, after nearly a year of siege.
1644 Oliver Cromwell crushes the Royalists at the Battle of Marston Moor.
1747 Marshall Saxe leads the French forces to victory over an Anglo-Dutch force under the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Lauffeld.
1776 The Continental Congress resolves with the Declaration of Independence that the American colonies "are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States."
1822 Denmark Vesey is executed in Charleston, South Carolina, for planning a massive slave revolt.
1858 Czar Alexander II frees the serfs working on imperial lands.
1863 The Union left flank holds at Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg.
1881 Charles J. Guiteau fatally wounds President James A. Garfield in Washington, D.C.
1926 Congress establishes the Army Air Corps.
1937 American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart disappears in the Central Pacific during an attempt to fly around the world.
1961 Novelist Ernest Hemingway commits suicide at his home in Ketchum, Idaho.
1964 President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act into law.
1967 The U.S. launches Operation Buffalo in Vietnam.
1976 North and South Vietnam are officially reunified.
1980 President Jimmy Carter reinstates draft registration for males 18 years of age.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post
… For The List for Saturday, 2 July 2022… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 2 July 1967… Extraordinary heroism: a Navy Cross and two Air Force Cross awards…
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip
Vietnam Air Losses
Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
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Thanks to Carl
July 2, 2022
Top Gun: Maverick -- An Antidote
By Christopher Skeet
Back in 2001, when the Oscars were still somewhat bearable, I remember being elated that the movie Gladiator won so many awards. Other than the fact that it was a great movie, there was something spitefully delicious in witnessing a victory that the elitist class clearly felt was unworthy but, their manicured hand forced by box office reality, was grudgingly obliged to recognize in order to save face.
Why didn't the elites like Gladiator? Because it pitted a materialistic, power-hungry totalitarian attempting to dissolve senatorial checks on his authority against a commoner-turned-warrior who lives, fights, and dies for such quaint notions of family, country, and the gods. Sound familiar? I suspect the Hollywood types actually enjoyed the movie until the closing scenes when they realized, flabbergasted, that Emperor Commodus was understood to be the bad guy.
Gladiator also presented an image of the masculine ideal that is utterly at odds with everything Hollywood stands for. At the time, the Academy was lecturing us rubes that thoroughly unwatchable dreck such as The Talented Mr. Ripley is the standard towards which to strive. It is a classical example of projection. Like Mr. Ripley, leftists are timid, scared, equivocating, deceitful, vengeful, and sexually confused, and they think you should be too.
Fast forward to today, and we find that Top Gun: Maverick is loved by the masses and hated by the elites for many of the same reasons.
There are many themes in Top Gun: Maverick to which the humanity in us responds. The first is laid out almost immediately, when the Navy's fighter squadrons find themselves in danger of being budget-cut out of existence in favor of their drone-savvy counterparts. The justifications of Rear Admiral Cain (Ed Harris) for drone warfare fall almost exactly in line with justifications for socialism (i.e., the implementation of a rational, calculated, mathematically-failsafe system which excludes both the error of human judgment, the need for human thought, and the chimera of human meaning). The stubborn refusal of Maverick (Tom Cruise) to prioritize drones over pilots (bureaucratic automation over free will) calls from us the essence that recognizes that we are still better than the machines we create.
The entire movie is generously interspersed with human beings, both men and women, not only mastering the machines they create (be they motorcycles, ships, or fighter jets), but also using them to master the environment around them to new and dangerous limits. It is a constant testament to the human spirit which builds skyscrapers, walks on the moon, and, yes, wins wars. Our heroes approach the edge of the unknown and then step into it. Whatever virtues the movie characters lack, courage isn't one of them, and there is something in that which most of us admire and some of us resent.
The plot involves a secret mission to destroy a uranium-enrichment plant in an enemy country (understood by 99.99% of the audience to be Iran but assumed by luminaries like Tomris Laffly to be Russia, despite the fact that Russia has had nukes since Stalin's reign and has no need to secretly enrich uranium). Therein lies the best part of the movie, which is the underlying truism: We are the good guys. Pure and simple. None of the characters needed to say it. There were no soaring speeches. There were no moral dialectics interwoven with the script, or even any examples of, for lack of a better phrase, the bad guys behaving badly. Most refreshingly, there was no moral equivalence between the West and its genocidal enemies, as there was in Saving Private Ryanand Munich (both, not coincidentally, creations of Spielberg Inc.) or in the otherwise brilliant The Killing Fields.
Rather, Top Gun: Maverickreturns to the clarity of Clint Eastwood's American Sniper and Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down, both of which made evident for anyone with a moral compass as to on which sides reside the good and evil of the respective contextual conflicts. We are the good guys. They are the bad guys. And if you need the fictional characters to dumb it down for you as to why, then you're watching the wrong movie, you attended the wrong school, and you were reared by the wrong parents.
The cast of pilots has grown from the original film (all white men and one black man) into something more diverse, yet with a natural, non-political feel to it. The cast reflects the military as it is today, with whites, blacks, Latinos, Asians, both men and birthing people women, in the cockpits. But this is done organically, without any of the mawkish "Back when my granddaddy served"speeches reminding the audience that there were no fighter jets in Washington's time but, if there were, you can bet your white privilege that minorities and women would not have been allowed to fly them.
Oh, and Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly) drives not a Prius, but a 1973 Porsche 911 S. Think of the carbon footprint…
You can see why critics hated it. Tomris Laffly called it "brouhaha jingoism and proud fist-shaking." Richard Trenholm of CNET dismissed it as "military fetishism" and compared our military pilots as children who "delight in playing with high-speed toys which just happen to be built for killing people." Richard Brody of The New Yorker claims (in between bizarre rants against both Reagan and Trump) that Cruise succeeds "solely by giving in to his emotions, by expressly not controlling them." There's that leftist projection again.
And so the yawning chasm between the American consumer and the "movie critic" eunuchs grows ever wider. As of this past weekend, Top Gun: Maverick surpassed the $1 billion mark worldwide and over $525 million in North America. Meanwhile, 2021 and 2022 saw the Oscars' lowest watched ratings in history. To date, Top Gun: Maverick has already earned more than the last seven Best Picture winners combined.
Maybe Americans don't go to the theater to be lectured. Maybe they tire of paying money to be guilt-tripped about their culture, their history, and their very existence. Maybe people who actually produce, protect, and work, utilizing their marketable and sought-after skills, grow weary of the sanctimony from those whose "job" it is to watch movies all day long. Maybe after years of their cities being torched, their statues being toppled, their border being invaded, their churches being desecrated, their life savings being inflationed away, their military being indoctrinated, their opinions being criminalized, and their children being groomed in public schools, they're in the mood for some affirmation that they aren't the planet-infesting cancer they're so often portrayed as.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, go see it. It is unashamedly pro-American, and without having to spell it out. It is a microcosm of the American ideal, one full of cockiness and unforced errors, but one which stumbles its way toward the light and toward victory. The movie reflects the confidence of our young, the wisdom of our old, and the utilization of both to push a little farther out west. Ignore the cowards hiding in the forgotten columns of their dying publications. Go see the movie, and be proud of the expanse of human achievement.
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Thanks to
Brett
Geopolitical Futures:
Keeping the future in focus
Daily Memo: Inflation in Europe, Energy Firm Seizure in Russia
The Baltic countries experienced the highest inflation in the eurozone in June.
By: GPF Staff
July 1, 2022
Inflation in Europe. Annual inflation in the eurozone reached 8.6 percent in June, according to Eurostat's latest estimates. The biggest contributor was energy prices, which increased by 41.9 percent over the last 12 months, followed by unprocessed food prices, which rose by 11.1 percent. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia experienced the highest inflation rates, at 19-22 percent.
Nationalization. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree transferring the assets of Sakhalin Energy, which operates the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project, to state ownership due to the "unfriendly actions of certain foreign states and international organizations." Half of the company's stock was owned by foreign companies Shell (27.5 percent minus one share), Mitsui (12.5 percent) and Mitsubishi (10 percent).
Europe's gas suppliers. According to the International Energy Agency, the European Union imported more gas, in the form of liquified natural gas, from the United States than from Russia via pipeline in June. This was a result of Russia's reduced gas supplies to Europe last month, including through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany.
Saudi priorities. Riyadh unveiled on Thursday its new research, development and innovation priorities for the next two decades. They include health, environmental sustainability, and leadership in energy and industry, all of which are key parts of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 economic diversification project.
Romania and Turkey. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed energy security and Ukrainian grain supplies on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid on Thursday. They also reaffirmed their desire to organize a trilateral meeting that would also include the president of Poland.
Russia and Indonesia. Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Thursday with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to discuss bilateral cooperation and the supply of Russian fertilizers. Putin expressed interest in investing in various Indonesian infrastructure projects, including the government's plans to build a new capital and a national nuclear program.
China and Nepal. The head of the International Department of China's Central Committee and Nepal's foreign minister exchanged views on promoting closer bilateral cooperation during a call on Thursday.
China and the Philippines. China's vice president called for improved relations with the Philippines, including through the settlement of disputes in the South China Sea, during an inauguration ceremony for new Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
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Thanks to Mike
Here we go again!!
☹
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Thanks to Bob & Dan c/o Burt ...
Holly cow. Just when I thought I had seen everything
Thanks
Dann
… challenging position as chief of structures:
However, I would recommend you keep your options open incase they sober up at some point.
Maybe Burt would want to be the configuration lead?
I can't help but wonder if this was originally released during the last full moon?
~Bob
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Thanks to Brett
Geopolitical Futures:
Keeping the future in focus
Daily Memo: NATO Enlargement, Independence Referendums
Washington also added five Chinese companies to a trade blacklist.
By: GPF Staff
June 29, 2022
NATO enlargement. Turkey lifted its objections to Finland and Sweden's applications to join NATO, just ahead of the start of the alliance's summit in Madrid. The two Nordic countries lifted their arms embargoes against Turkey, pledged not to support Kurdish militant groups and agreed to cooperate on counterterrorism.
Sanctions. The U.S. Department of Commerce blacklisted five Chinese companies for allegedly helping the Russian army and Russian defense firms. American companies are prohibited from exporting products to the companies. The Chinese Foreign Ministry criticized the move, saying China engages in normal trade with Russia and does not provide military assistance to either side in the war.
Kherson referendum. Preparations are underway for a referendum on whether Ukraine's occupied Kherson region should join the Russian Federation, the deputy of the region's provisional administration announced. The deputy previously said a vote could be held later this year.
Vote again. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon formally requested British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's consent to a second Scottish independence referendum, to be held on Oct. 19, 2023. London has said that now is not the time for another vote and that work must center on economic recovery. Sturgeon also sought the supreme court's opinion on the legality of holding a vote without Westminster's permission.
China-Venezuela call. In a phone call, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Carlos Faria expressed interest in deepening bilateral communication and coordination.
Myanmar visit. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Myanmar this weekend, his first trip to the country since its military seized power last year, according to a Myanmar junta spokesman. Wang will join a meeting of the foreign ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Caspian summit. The presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan are participating in the sixth Caspian Summit, hosted in the Turkmen capital, on Wednesday.
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These two are fun reads. The List does not do pictures well so if you want to see the pictures open up the urls for each. skip
Aerial Gunfight: Shot Down by a .45
by Tom Laemlein - Friday, May 31, 2019
The M1911 and M1911A1 pistols are legends among firearms. Their remarkable exploits in the hands of American service personnel have been handed down among shooters since before World War I. I recently came across a whopper of an M1911 story that stopped me in my tracks like a hit from a .45 ACP. I figured that the big Colt pistol could do quite a bit, but when I heard that it brought down a German aircraft in 1945, I had to follow up on the tale.
It all happened on the way to Berlin. In this particular case, the story centers on the 5th Armored Division, part of the vanguard of the U.S. 9th Army. The American tanks, tank destroyers and halftracks had recently crossed the Rhine at the Ludendorff Railroad Bridge at Remagen. Once across the last great natural barrier in Germany, American forces were spreading like wildfire, blasting their way east towards the capital of the Third Reich. There was much excitement that the war would soon be over. There was also much concern. While many German units would surrender or simply fade away, other units, particularly the fanatical SS, were fighting to the last man. No one wanted to meet their end with victory so close. The M1911 pistol—the only pistol credited with a World War II air-to-air victory.
On April 12, 1945, travelling a few thousand feet above the advancing American tanks was a Stinson L-5 spotting aircraft, named "Miss Me." Lt. Duane Francies was the pilot. His observer was Lt. William S. Martin. Together, they had successfully located multiple German positions in the path of 5th Armored Division troops. During their mission on April 12, the men aboard "Miss Me" had seen the smokestacks of the Spandau Works rising in the distance. This meant that Berlin was not far away. Francies banked his aircraft to return to the 5th Armored and help map out the approach routes to the European war's final prize. The German Fieseler Fi 156 Storch
As "Miss Me" closed in on the lead elements of the 5th Armored, Francies noticed a German aircraft flying just a few hundred feet above the treetops. It was a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork), a German tactical recon aircraft, flying the same type of mission as "Miss Me." As Martin radioed that they had spotted a German aircraft and that "we are about to give combat." As Francies dove on the target, his original intent was to drive the Storch onto the anti-aircraft guns of the American armor below. Strangely, a throwback sort of aerial combat would ensue.
A view from inside a Stinson L-5.
With the L-5's side doors open, both of the American aviators readied their M1911A1 .45 ACP pistols. The German Storch began to circle as tightly as possible. Francies maintained his altitude advantage, and "Miss Me" stayed with the tightly turning German. Pistol magazines were fired until empty, reloaded, and another barrage of .45 slugs were fired again. The range closed to just 10 yds., the Americans blasting all the way. There was no return fire from the German aircraft.
Suddenly the Storch staggered, and then spiraled in to crash in a placid cow pasture. The German's wingtip touched first and as it snagged the Storch cartwheeled into the field. Francies quickly brought "Miss Me" down to land, with Martin shouting into the radio: "We got him! We got him!" The tankers and armored infantrymen had just watched the strangest air battle of World War II. Many were dumbstruck by what they had seen.
A wrecked Storch.
Francies and Martin exited "Miss Me" and crossing the field they watched the German pilot and observer tumble out of their wrecked plane. The German pilot tried to hide but Martin found him and kept him covered with his .45. Francies tended to the observer, who had been wounded in the foot. Ultimately, the surprised and shaken Germans were just glad to be alive. Francies would later describe his air combat experience as "pure joy." It is the only confirmed American air-to-air victory achieved with a pistol.
This remarkable incident was first recounted in Cornelius Ryan's fantastic book The Last Battle, published by Simon & Schuster in 1966. I checked the combat records of the 5th Armored Division and found this entry:
"Enemy losses for 12 April were as follows:
"-Personnel, PWs: two thousand (2000) Killed: unreported.
"-Material losses were not yet reported, but it was known that one (1) ME109 had been shot down, two (2) enemy liaison planes destroyed (one (1) in an encounter with a Division liaison plane whose pilot and observer shot the enemy plane out of the sky with fire from a sub-machine gun)."
Apparently, the recording secretary of the 5th Armored couldn't believe the German aircraft was shot down by pistol fire. Regardless, Colt pistols did the work, and there was no submachine aboard "Miss Me." So there you have it, another amazing story about the long-serving M1911 pistol—on land, at sea and even in the air.
The M1911 pistol was carried by many pilots and aircrew. This one is on the hip of a pilot with the 9th Air Force.
The M1911 Gets a Zero
by NRA Staff - Tuesday, March 29, 2011
In the hands of American soldiers and marines, the M1911A1 performed admirably throughout World War II. In fact, there are numerous accounts of the 1911 being used in courageous acts earning the bearer the Medal of Honor.
There are also legends about the power, accuracy and reliability of Browning's masterpiece, which may, or may not, be true, but speak to the magnificence of a pistol design that is more than 100 years old. One of these stories took place March 31, 1943, near Pyinmana, Myanma, and was first reported July 1996 in "Air Force Magazine."
On that fated day, the 7th BG's 9th Bomb Squadron was sent on a mission to destroy a railroad bridge, but was attacked before it could reach its target. The bombing group took heavy fire from Japanese fighter planes, wounding the squadron's commander, Col. Conrad F. Necrason, and disabling numerous B-24 Bombers, including one carrying Lt. Owen J. Baggett.
Though the crew continued to fight, it was obvious that the plane was going to crash, so Baggett's pilot, Lt. Lloyd Jensen, ordered the men to bail out. Along with the other members of his unit, Baggett jumped from the plane and pulled his parachute.
The Japanese pilots fired on the floating crew killing some and wounding Lt. Baggett in the arm. The story goes that when the pilot who fired upon Baggett came around for a look, the young lieutenant hung limply in his harness as if dead. The ruse worked because the fighter raised his canopy as he flew within feet of the parachute giving Baggett an opportunity. As the plane soared by, Baggett raised his M1911A1 .45 and fired four rounds at the plane, which banked before stalling and crashing into the ground.
After landing on the ground, Lt. Baggett, along with three other crew members, was captured and taken to a POW camp near Singapore. Baggett didn't really believe that he had taken down a fighter plane with only a handgun, but Col. Harry Melton, commander of the 311th Fighter Group, ended up at the same camp telling a story about a Japanese colonel that had said that the pilot Baggett had fired upon had been thrown clear of the plane and had been found dead of a single bullet to the head.
While there is no direct evidence that Lt. Owen Baggett did in fact take down a Japanese fighter plane with a handgun, many believe it to be true. Regardless, this is a great story of a courageous man involving a legendary pistol.
After the end of World War II, Owen Baggett remained in the military eventually rising to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Air Force, which was his rank when he retired to San Antonio, Texas. In 2006, at 85 years old, Owen Baggett died in Texas, but he will always be remembered as the man who used a .45 to get a Zero.
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This Day in U S Military History…….July 2
1809 – Alarmed by the growing encroachment of whites squatting on Native American lands, the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh calls on all Indians to unite and resist. Born around 1768 near Springfield, Ohio, Tecumseh early won notice as a brave warrior. He fought in battles between the Shawnee and the white Kentuckians, who were invading the Ohio River Valley territory. After the Americans won several important battles in the mid-1790s, Tecumseh reluctantly relocated westward but remained an implacable foe of the white men and their ways. By the early 19th century, many Shawnee and other Ohio Valley Indians were becoming increasingly dependent on trading with the Americans for guns, cloth, and metal goods. Tecumseh spoke out against such dependence and called for a return to traditional Indian ways. He was even more alarmed by the continuing encroachment of white settlers illegally settling on the already diminished government-recognized land holdings of the Shawnee and other tribes. The American government, however, was reluctant to take action against its own citizens to protect the rights of the Ohio Valley Indians. On this day in 1809, Tecumseh began a concerted campaign to persuade the Indians of the Old Northwest and Deep South to unite and resist. Together, Tecumseh argued, the various tribes had enough strength to stop the whites from taking further land. Heartened by this message of hope, Indians from as far away as Florida and Minnesota heeded Tecumseh's call. By 1810, he had organized the Ohio Valley Confederacy, which united Indians from the Shawnee, Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Winnebago, Menominee, Ottawa, and Wyandot nations. For several years, Tecumseh's Indian Confederacy successfully delayed further white settlement in the region. In 1811, however, the future president William Henry Harrison led an attack on the confederacy's base on the Tippecanoe River. At the time, Tecumseh was in the South attempting to convince more tribes to join his movement. Although the battle of Tippecanoe was close, Harrison finally won out and destroyed much of Tecumseh's army. When the War of 1812 began the following year, Tecumseh immediately marshaled what remained of his army to aid the British. Commissioned a brigadier general, he proved an effective ally and played a key role in the British capture of Detroit and other battles. When the tide of war turned in the American favor, Tecumseh's fortunes went down with those of the British. On October 5, 1813, he was killed during Battle of the Thames. His Ohio Valley Confederacy and vision of Indian unity died with him.
1926 – The Distinguished Flying Cross was established in the Air Corps Act (Act of Congress, Public Law No. 446, 69th Congress). This act provided for award "to any person, while serving in any capacity with the Air Corps of the Army of the United States, including the National Guard and the Organized Reserves, or with the United States Navy, since the 6th day of April 1917, has distinguished, or who, after the approval of this Act, distinguishes himself by heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight."
1926 – An Act of Congress (Public Law 446-69th Congress (44 Stat. 780)) which established the Soldier's Medal for acts of heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy. The Secretary of War directed that the Quartermaster General prepare and submit appropriate designs of the Soldier's Medal per letter signed by The Adjutant General dated 11 August 1926.
1937 – CGC Itasca, while conducting re-supply operations in the Central Pacific, made the last-known radio contact with Amelia Earhart and her co-pilot Fred Noonan. Itasca later joined the Navy-directed search for the aircraft. The search was finally called off on 17 July with no trace of the aircraft having been found.
1941 – The US authorities very soon know of a Japanese determination to attempt to seize bases in Indonesia even if it should precipitate war through their code-breaking service which has managed to work out the key to the major Japanese diplomatic code and some other minor operational codes. The information gained from the diplomatic code is circulated under the code name Magic.
1943 – The American buildup on Rendova Island continues but the Japanese garrison continues to resist. During the night a Japanese naval force bombards the American positions with little effect.
1943 – The U.S. Army Air Corps 99th Fighter Squadron, the first of the all-black Tuskegee Airmen to see combat, had been based in Africa for four months when they were assigned to escort 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers on a routine mission over Sicilian targets. Lieutenant Charles B. Hall of Brazil, Indiana became the first Tuskegee Airman to score a confirmed kill when he shot down a German fighter plane.
1944 – There are Allied landing on Numfoor Island. About 7100 troops, including elements of the US 168th Infantry Division and Australian forces, under the command of US General Patrick establish a beachhead on the north coast near Kamiri Airfield. There is no Japanese resistance. Admiral Fechteler commands the naval support with US Task Force 74 and TF75 providing escort and a preliminary bombardment. On Biak Island, remnants of the Japanese force continue to resist.
1944 – On Saipan, American forces conduct a general advance. Garapan village is overrun.
1945 – The submarine USS Barb fires rockets on Kaihyo Island, off the east coast of Karafuto (Sakhalin) Island. It is the first American underwater craft to fire rockets in shore bombardment. Meanwhile, Japanese sources report that only 200,000 people remain in Tokyo. All others have been evacuated to safer areas. The Japanese claim that some 5 million civilians have been killed or wounded by American fire-bombs.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
Today in History July 2 1863 there were 30 at Gettysburg, 1 in Cuba and 3 in the Philippines.
Here are a few of them
SLAGLE, OSCAR
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 104th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Elk River, Tenn., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Manlius, Ill. Birth: Fulton County, Ohio. Date of issue: 30 October 1897. Citation: Voluntarily joined a small party that, under a heavy fire, captured a stockade and saved the bridge.
SMALLEY, REUBEN S.
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 104th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Elk River, Tenn., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Brookfield, La Salle County, Ill. Birth: Washington County, Pa. Date of issue: 30 October 1897. Citation: Voluntarily joined a small party that, under a heavy fire, captured a stockade and saved the bridge.
SMITH, THADDEUS S.
Rank and organization. Corporal, Company E, 6th Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry. Place and date. At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Franklin County, Pa. Date of issue: 5 May 1900. Citation: Was 1 of 6 volunteers who charged upon a log house near the Devil's Den, where a squad of the enemy's sharpshooters were sheltered, and compelled their surrender.
STACEY, CHARLES
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 55th Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: ——. Birth: England. Date of issue: 23 June 1896. Citation: Voluntarily took an advanced position on the skirmish line for the purpose of ascertaining the location of Confederate sharpshooters, and under heavy fire held the position thus taken until the company of which he was a member went back to the main line.
TOZIER, ANDREW J.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company I, 20th Maine Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Plymouth, Maine. Birth: Monmouth, Maine. Date of issue: 13 August 1898. Citation: At the crisis of the engagement this soldier, a color bearer, stood alone in an advanced position, the regiment having been borne back, and defended his colors with musket and ammunition picked up at his feet.
WELBORN, IRA C.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, 9th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 2 July 1898. Entered service at: Mico, Miss. Birth: Mico, Miss. Date of issue: 21 June 1899. Citation: Voluntarily left shelter and went, under fire, to the aid of a private of his company who was wounded.
GREER, ALLEN J.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 4th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: Near Majada, Laguna Province, Philippine Islands, 2 July 1901. Entered service at: Memphis, Tenn. Birth: Memphis, Tenn. Date of issue: 10 March 1902. Citation: Charged alone an insurgent outpost with his pistol, killing 1, wounding 2, and capturing 3 insurgents with their rifles and equipment.
HENDERSON, JOSEPH
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Troop B, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Patian Island, Philippine Islands, 2 July 1909. Entered service at: Leavenworth, Kans. Birth: Leavenworth, Kans. Date of issue: Unknown. Citation: While in action against hostile Moros, voluntarily advanced alone, in the face of a heavy fire, to within about 15 yards of the hostile position and refastened to a tree a block and tackle used in checking the recoil of a mountain gun.
MILLER, ARCHIE
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Patian Island, Philippine Islands, 2 July 1909. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Birth: Fort Sheridan, Ill. Date of issue: Unknown. Citation: While in action against hostile Moros, when the machinegun detachment, having been driven from its position by a heavy fire, 1 member being killed, did, with the assistance of an enlisted man, place the machinegun in advance of its former position at a distance of about 20 yards from the enemy, in accomplishing which he was obliged to splice a piece of timber to one leg of the gun tripod, all the while being under a heavy fire, and the gun tripod being several times struck by bullets.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for July 2, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
2 July
1914: First of Martin's T Tractor airplanes (Signal Corps No. 31) accepted at San Diego.
1926: Congress created the DFC, retroactive to 6 April 1917, to honor heroic acts or extraordinary flight achievements by armed services' members. (4) First known aerial reforesting occurred in Hawaii. (24)
1943: Lt Charles Hall, 99th Fighter Squadron, became the first US black pilot to shoot down an Axis plane, a German Focke-Wulf 190 over Sicily. (21)
1944: Using Fifth Air Force air support, the 158th Regimental Combat Team (Task Force Cyclone) landed on Noemfoor Island, Schouten Islands, off the north coast of Dutch New Guinea. The RAAF's Number Two Works Wing started construction on Kamiri airstrip started at once. The next day, 54 TCW C-47s dropped the 1st Battalion, 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment over the airfield. Infantry from the 158th Royal Construction Team (RCT) secured Kornasoren Airfield on 4 July. The airdrome at Kamiri received its first fighter group on 16 July, the Kornasoren field on the 25th. (17)
1952: The USAF announced that the Lockheed F-94C Starfire was first fighter to be armed solely with rockets. (16)
1955: The biggest troop airlift in history to date began at Donaldson AFB, S. C., when 3,900 paratroopers moved from the US to Japan and 3,100 from Japan to the US. (16) (24)
1964: SAC received its first KC-135B airborne command post. The final Polaris A3 missile of the test program launched from Cape Kennedy. Its 2,500-mile flight was the 41st in a program that began in 1962.
1966: Mrs. Jerrie Mock set a closed-course distance record of 3,800 miles for women in an airplane weighing 3,850-5,300 pounds.
1982: Fairchild Republic Company selected to develop the T-46A, next generation trainer. (12) A Titan II (site 570-9), belonging to the 570 SMS at Davis-Monthan AFB, came off alert for testing. It became the first Titan II to inactivate under a phase out program. (6)
1984: The inactivation of a second Titan II unit, the 381 SMW at McConnell AFB, began earlier in the year. The wing's first site (533-8) came off alert on 2 July. 1987: Rockwell International received a $155.2 million contract to build AC-130U gunships. (12)
1991: The McDonnell Douglas MD52ON, the first production helicopter built without a tail rotor, made its first flight. The helicopter used a blown air system for anti-torque and directional control. (20)
1993: AMC integrated tanker and airlift forces under Fifteenth and Twenty-First Air Forces. (16)
1998: Operation PHOENIX FLAME. Through 7 July, AMC flew 10 C-5 and 2 C-141 missions to assist Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) firefighting efforts in Florida. The airlifters delivered more than 300 people and 740 tons of equipment to NAS Jacksonville and Patrick AFB. Active duty, reserve, and guard units supported efforts to fight wildfires in some 200,000 acres of Florida. (22)
2007: The 119th Wing (North Dakota Air National Guard) in Fargo, N. Dak., flew its first MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft system mission. The 119th Wing converted from its previous mission with F-16 Fighting Falcons to Predators and C-21s. (AFNEWS, "North Dakota ANG Unit Flies First Unmanned Mission, 3 Jul 2007.)
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